Peru's jailed Fujimori asks Humala for pardon

LIMA - Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, in prison for human rights crimes and suffering from oral cancer, has asked President Ollanta Humala for a humanitarian pardon, his children said on Wednesday.

A pardon, which may only be granted after a series of medical reviews, could realign voting blocs in Congress, alter the field of candidates in the 2016 presidential election and prompt others jailed for political violence to demand their freedom.

"We're making this request for a humanitarian pardon based on medical reasons," the jailed leader's oldest daughter, Keiko Fujimori, a lawmaker who ran against Humala for the presidency in 2011, told reporters.

"We note all of his illnesses and the five operations and surgeries that my father has had on his tongue," she said upon filing documents with the Justice Ministry.

A pardon might allow Humala to gain support in Congress from Fujimori's right-wing party and solidify a working majority for the ruling Gana Peru party, which has suffered defections from left-wing lawmakers frustrated by Humala's conservative drift.